Inflated expense budgets are every CFO's worst nightmare. A business' objective, after all, is to earn a profit, and since business travel expenses account for a large percentage of total expenses, keeping these costs down ought to be a priority. However, in their quest to reduce travel costs, many managers sacrifice something crucial in exchange, employee satisfaction.

The importance of a satisfied and motivated employee cannot be understated. And if the employee is constantly on the road for business, then ensuring they are satisfied should be a top priority. CrewFacilities.com has been in the travel management scene for more than two decades, and we can assure you that the best way to ensure business trips get a good ROI is to keep your travelers happy and motivated.

Travel policy compliance is without a doubt the best way to stay within budget. And given the opportunity, most employees would gladly comply with your travel policy anyway. Most of the time, non-compliance is caused by confusion over policy limits, no self-booking tools or limited employee training.

Ensuring your employees are satisfied is the best way to make sure they comply with your policy. Why would they go out of their way to book out of policy accommodation or transportation if they are happy with what you've provided? The two go hand in hand; a reasonable travel policy that considers your employees' needs will undoubtedly lead to near-perfect compliance. And speaking of employee needs,

Self-booking is one of the trends employees have taken to, and it's not going anywhere. In fact, most business travelers these days prefer to book their own trips instead of dealing with an internal travel manager or a travel management company. The fact that millennials, the generation that grew up with technology makes up a large percentage of business travelers, stresses the importance of focusing on self-booking.

Most of your traveling employees have been booking their trips on their own and they've grown accustomed to it. It allows them to choose options that suit them and their needs and taking away this ability definitely won't work in your favor.

A culture of trust is the best choice for an organization that's looking to grow and depends on its traveling employees. According to a Global CEO survey from PWC, over 50% of CEOs say that lack of trust is a major threat to organizational growth. So instead of looking for ways to control your employees and how they spend, try fostering a culture of trust.

One way to do this is to give them more options and control over their travel. It's a win-win as you'll stay within policy while showing your employees that you trust them and their judgment.

Business travel has become a crucial aspect of business operations, and given the amount of money spent yearly by businesses to finance corporate travel, travel managers have to strive to create effective travel programs. Employee satisfaction lies at the core of a travel program that works. Do you feel your travel program could be tweaked to improve employee satisfaction? Contact CrewFacilities.com today for a free consultation.